On November 14, Maine’s Attorney General Janet T. Mills issued a warning to the state’s residents regarding calls from “scammers” demanding immediate payment on supposed debts. Mills’ warning stemmed from many recent reports to her office of aggressive calls from “scammers” attempting to get consumers to make payments by wire transfer or pre-paid debit card.
FTC and State Attorneys General Reach $22 Million Proposed Settlement with Companies Offering Hidden-Fee Access to Credit Reports
The Federal Trade Commission has stopped an online program that allegedly lured consumers with “free” access to their credit scores and then billed them a recurring fee of $29.95 per month for a credit monitoring program they never ordered. The defendants are One Technologies LP (also doing business as ScoreSense, One Technologies Inc., and MyCreditHealth);
Supreme Court Declines to Revisit Third Circuit’s Decision That Debtors Are Not Required to Dispute a Debt Prior to Filing an FDCPA Lawsuit
On November 10, the Supreme Court declined to review an appeal by debt collection law firm Phelan Hallinan & Shmieg LLP over a Third Circuit decision in a class action that held that debtors are not required to dispute a debt under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act before filing an FDCPA lawsuit.
On June
E.D.N.Y Rejects Third-Party Disclosure Claims and Follows Zortman Approach for FDCPA “Communications”
On November 13, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that a debt collector’s voicemail message did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act when it never mentioned that plaintiff owed a debt or conveyed any information about the debt, despite being overheard by the plaintiff’s son. In Zweigenhaft
CFPB Supervision Report Targets Illegal Debt Collection Practices
On October 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued the latest edition of its “Supervisory Highlights” report, covering illegalities it discovered in the debt collection, student loan servicing, and mortgage collection markets between March and June 2014. Although the Bureau acknowledged increased efforts by covered entities to ensure regulatory compliance, the report nevertheless
FTC Stops Debt Collection Scheme that Targeted Spanish-Speaking Consumers
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court judge in Miami has temporarily shut down a fraudulent phantom debt collection operation that allegedly deceived Spanish-speaking consumers across the country.
On October 20, the FTC filed a complaint against Centro Natural Corp., Sumore LLC, and several individual defendants alleging that defendants illegally
CFPB Report: One-Third of Older Consumers’ Complaints Are About Debt Collection
On November 5, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a report detailing debt collection complaint statics received from older consumers between July 2013 and September 2014.
From a broader perspective, the CFPB reports that since September 2013, consumers of all ages have filed more complaints with the CFPB about debt collection than about any other
OCC Warns on Auto Lending, HELOC, and Debt Sale Risks
On October 28, the Deputy Comptroller for Supervision of Risk Management Darrin Benhart of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency discussed auto and home equity lending risks and consumer debt sales. A copy of his remarks, which were made before the Financial Services Collections and Credit Risk Conference, can be found here.
IAPP’s Practical Privacy Series 2014 – NYC Edition
On November 5-6, the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) will host a Practical Privacy Series in New York. According to IAPP, the Series will offer laser-focused education in the hot areas of data privacy that gets straight to the point, giving attendees the knowledge they need right now.
Topics to be covered are:
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FCC Steps into Data Privacy Fray with Action Against Telecommunications Company
The Federal Communications Commission took its first step into the field of data security regulation on October 24 when it hit two telecommunications companies with a $10 million fine for allegedly failing to adequately safeguard customers’ sensitive information.
The two companies – TerraCom, Inc. and YourTel America, Inc. – were fined for allegedly placing the